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Volunteers build homes, hope in Guatemala

First Presbyterian Church of Brighton volunteers Leigh Bolitho, left, and Fran Michalek lay down cement blocks to make a stove during a recent mission trip to Guatemala. The group built a home and stove for a mother and her two children.
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In eight days, a team of volunteers from the First Presbyterian Church of Brighton constructed a cement block home and built a stove in a small town in the mountains of Guatemala.

It’s nothing fancy, but those improvements will provide shelter and fresh air to a mother, her two children and other relatives used to cooking over an open fire, breathing in smoke and often getting burned.

Church volunteers have been building homes and stoves in area around San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala, for 12 years. Pastor Dan Michalek said the group has built probably 60 or more homes and stoves.

He said the trips shake him up bit, something he needs. He and his wife, Fran, director of worship and music at First Presbyterian, help organize the mission trips. The latest trip occurred Oct. 25 to Nov. 2.

“I need to be reminded what the world is really like,” Dan Michalek said. “We are frequently out of touch with how most of the world lives.”

He said 15 volunteers, including college students, see the impact of changing lives.

“We’re changing the world one life at a time,” he said.

Dan Michalek said they finance construction of the homes and stoves, and volunteers build one house and stove during an eight-day trip. He said local, paid contractors usually complete three more homes in the same period.

The stoves are vented outside, which is a big improvement over the existing cooking setup. He said most residents cook over an open fire in an enclosed area, which causes respiratory problems and leads to people getting burned.

“Our faith says we need to go,” Dan Michalek said.

The volunteers also organize a Bible school while building a home and stove. In addition, the church purchased a home in San Lucas Toliman and will use it to create a medical clinic.

Fran Michalek said it’s “overwhelming” to see how little the residents have.

Changing lives

Despite their poverty, Fran Michalek said many residents are joyful and happy.

She said the experience is life-changing for the local residents and those from Brighton.

“I feel it changes us more than them,” she said.

“The love and care of the people, and their generosity,” Fran Michalek said. “They make us a meal every day we’re there.”

Genoa Township residents Andrea and Doug Campbell participated in the mission trip for the first time.

“The family was so supportive of everything,” Andrea Campbell said about the mother and two children. “It just worked out really well.”

She said volunteers visited other homes previously built by the group, and it seemed like 70-80 kids would run out of the homes.

“They’re so excited to see the gringos,” Andrea Campbell said.

She was most impressed by the people.

“They live very simple lives,” Andrea Campbell said, but she noticed they were happy and didn’t complain.

“The kids, they didn’t have any toys,” she said. “Never once did they complain.”

She said she couldn’t imagine “American kids” doing the same.

To learn more about the plans and fundraising for a medical clinic, visit http://www.houseofhealingmission.org.